Freestanding air springs consist of a rolling piston and an air spring cover, which are connected to one another by an air spring bellows, wherein the air spring bellows is fixed by means of clamping rings on the air spring cover in a body-side clamping region and on the rolling piston in a running gear-side clamping region. In this case, the air spring generally has just one single air volume.
Air spring covers that already exist in the prior art, having an integrated switching valve which, in one operating state of the switching valve, enable a second air volume present in the air spring cover to be linked in, are of highly complex construction, using a large number of component parts, and have a correspondingly complex production method, resulting in many cases in an excessive weight of the air spring cover owing to the predominant use of metal materials. Document DE 10 2006 033 198 A, which is incorporated by reference, represents the prior art as regards air springs with a two-part air spring cover.